Bait bucket



April 14, 1931. J. T. SMITH 1,801,117

BAIT BUCKET Filed Sept. 9, 1930 INVEN'TOR ATTORN EYS Patented Apr. 14,1931 UNITED vSTATE-S PATEN JOHN T. SMITH, 0F LONGVIEW, TEXAS BAIT BUCKETApplication filed September 9, 1930. Serial No. 480,784.

This invention relates to bait buckets and, among other objects, aims toprovide a fresh water minnow bucket having improved means to hang it onthe side of a boat and an overflow conduit arranged to drain stale waterout of the bottom and over the side of the boat as fresh water is addedor poured into the bucket.

Other aims and advantages of the invention will appear in thespecification, when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a bait bucket embodying the invention;

ig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

To keep minnows or live fresh water bait alive, it is necessary to addfresh water from time to time and drain the stale water. The most staleor impure water remains at the bottom. In using ordinary minnow bucketsit is the customary to pick them up, pour out some of the stale waterand pour in fresh water to take its place. This invention aims toprovide improved hooks for attaching or supporting a bait bucket on theside of a boat and a drain conduit within the bucket having its endprojecting through the side wall so as to drain the stale water from thebottom of the bucket without removing the bucket from the side of theboat.

Referring particularly to the drawing, there is shown a sheet metalbucket 10 of conventional shape having a bail 11 and a cover or top 12.In this instance, a pair of U:-shaped hook members 13, convenientlyformed of strap metal or fiat bars, are brazed or otherwise secured toone sidewall of the bucket so as to be hooked over the side of a boatand support the bucket on the inside.

A conduit 14, conveniently made of an ordinary piece of pipe, bentL-shaped and having an outlet branch 15 projecting be yond the hooks 13,is secured in an opening in the side wall of the bucket preferablybetween the hooks. The vertical branch of the conduit 14 is convenientlyarranged adjacent to the-inside of the side wall and may be securedthereto by spot welding. The lower end, which terminates slightly abovethe bottom wall of the bucket, has a screen 16 secured therein toprevent the conduit from being clogged up with bait or foreign matterand to prevent live minnows from escaping through the conduit.

In using the bucket for fresh water fishing, it is only necessary tohook it on the side of the boat with the overflow branch of the conduitprojecting outwardly so that the drained water will fall over the sideof the boat. The top or cover may be removed from time to time and newwater added by pouring it into the bucket. As the water level in thebucket rises, the stale water will be forced out of the conduit anddrained from the bottom.

In some instances, the drain conduits may be siphon-shaped and hookedover the side of the boat, thus dispensing with the necessity to provideseparate hooks. Moreover, one such conduit may be utilized to serve asone hook in combination with an ordinary hook like the ones disclosed.

Obviously, the present invention is not restricted to the particularembodiment thereof herein shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bait bucket of the character described, hook members connectedto oneside and adapted to support the bucket on the side of a boat; anda drain conduit having a branch extending into the bucket near thebottom wall and so arranged that stale water will be drained from thebottom of the bucket as fresh water is added.

2. In combination with a bait bucket, hook members secured to one sideand adapted to support the bucket on the side of a boat; and an L-shapeddrain pipe having one branch projecting vertically into the bucket andterminating near the bottom and another branch projecting through thatside wall of the bucket to which the hooks are connected, said lastnamed branch projecting beyond the hooks and arranged to drain wateroverboard from the bottom of the bucket as fresh water is added.

3. In combination with a minnow bucket of the character described, anL-shaped conduit having a vertical branch Within the bucket terminatingshort of the bottom; and a horizontal branch projecting through a sidewall of the bucket so arranged as to drain the stale Water from thebottom of the bucket as fresh Water is added.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixedmy signature.

JOHN T. SMITH.

